Blue Jackets | Gritty group guts out yet another close win

Friday

WASHINGTON — The song “Battle Born” by The Killers was not playing in the Blue Jackets locker room on Thursday night.

But with the lyrics “when they knock you down, you’re going to get back on your feet,” it may be one from the playlist which sums up this team best.

The Jackets may not be “Battle Born,” but they sure are battle-tested.

And they sure don’t scare easily.

“We have been in that spot before,” goalie Sergei Bobrovsky said, "where we come back from the difference of a few goals.

"We did it again.”

The Jackets took Game 1 of their opening-round playoff series against the Washington Capitals 4-3 in overtime at CapitalOne Arena on Thursday after fighting back from an early two-goal deficit and then being down one late in the third.

“A very gutsy win,” defenseman Ian Cole said.

Columbus found itself down 2-0 after an extended power play at the end of the first period in which forward Josh Anderson was given a five-minute major and ejected from the game for boarding Michal Kempny along the back wall and into the glass.

The Jackets got one goal back from Alexander Wennberg’s tap-in of a Boone Jenner pass in the second, then tied it on Thomas Vanek’s post-up of Brooks Orpik on a feed from Pierre-Luc Dubois on a power play in the third.

Devante Smith-Pelley gave the Caps the lead back at 5:12 of the third, but Columbus kept coming and tied it on Seth Jones’ power-play goal with less than five minutes remaining to force overtime.

There, Artemi Panarin won it.

Game 2 of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal comes Sunday night at 7:30 in Washington.

"We just stayed with it,” coach John Tortorella said, adding he doesn’t think the Blue jackets’ penchant for close games in the regular season necessarily helps in the playoffs.

“There was no panic on the bench. … We were having a ball. There was no nervousness. They were having a ball.”

This season, the Jackets were known for grinding out games and ended up in 37 decided by a single goal.

Columbus won 23 of them and got a point in 30.

During their run to the playoffs in which they went 16-4-2 from Feb. 20 until losing 5-4 in overtime to the Penguins on April 5, the Jackets won nine of 13 games decided by a goal, with only two of those one-goal losses coming in regulation.

In the final days of the regular season in games against Edmonton, Vancouver and Detroit, the Jackets were down three goals before roaring back to go 2-0-1 in those contests.

“We have been this situation; we have been playing for our lives for a while now,” center Mark Letestu said.

"Obviously there is an increased intensity there, but at the start of overtime, we weren’t overwhelmed but we were trying to feel our way and make some plays. We found a way. We keep playing in close games, the comfort level will keep growing.”

Said forward Nick Foligno: “We have been playing playoff hockey for a while and we're comfortable in these type of games. We have found ways to battle back from bigger deficits.”

Columbus was put in a tough spot trying to kill off the five-minute major in which Washington “could have scored as many goals as they could,” said Dubois.

The Capitals ended up with two, and when the long kill was over, the Jackets went to work in the Washington zone and began their comeback.

"The message for a young team especially is don't get too high, don't get too low, don't get too excited,” Vanek said. "Just stay even-keel, and I thought we did a great job of that. Obviously, we weren't happy with the first period with the penalties. …

"They scored two — that's a lethal power play — but we came in here and we felt pretty good about our game.”

grichards@dispatch.com

@GeorgeRichards

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